Bless the Child Read Online Free PDF Page A

if I’m a post office box where you can just drop things off and pick them up when the spirit moves you. Do you think your daughter is an object for retrieval at your convenience? Where the hell have you been, Jenna? What have you been doing with your damned life? Why did you never send so much as a postcard? It doesn’t look to me like you couldn’t afford a stamp. I think I deserve a few answers here, before we talk about picking up anything other than a blunt object!”
     
    Jenna turned to Eric, all tranquility replaced by anger.
     
    “I told you she’d be like this, Eric. Selfish and hostile.”
     
    The commotion of voices had roused Maria from inside the house; she stood in the doorway with Cody tagging close behind.
     
    Eric leaped on the diversion. “What a breathtaking little beauty you are,” he announced to Cody with seeming sincerity. “You have your grandmother’s exquisite eyes and your mother’s glorious hair.” The dazzling smile beamed its way to Cody and she took it in, without returning the greeting. She peered out, instead, from behind Maria’s bulk, to investigate the smile’s owner.
     
    Maggie moved up the steps, in a daze, motioning them to follow her into the house.
     
    “Mim?” Cody whispered urgently, tugging at her grandmother’s sleeve. “Who’s that lady?”
     
    Maggie bent down to the child’s level, struggling for words; her heart pounded so hard she could barely breathe. “I have a wonderful surprise for you, sweetheart,” she managed, forcing her voice steadiness.
     
    “Remember all the stories I’ve told you about your beautiful mommy? The lady in the picture by my bed?” She waited for Cody to nod her head before continuing.
     
    “Remember, I told you about how much she loves you, and how she would come back one day to tell you so herself?” Reluctantly, the little girl nodded; some note in Mim’s voice, was making her nervous.
     
    “My dear love,” Maggie said gently, trying to keep the tears form her inflection. “This beautiful lady is your mommy.”
     
    Cody’s head turned slowly at this startling revelation, she looked at Jenna, with intense concentration. The gaze was clearly one of appraisal. And something else, indefinable.
     
    Jenna stared at the child, entranced. She moved forward with outstretched arms, but Cody turned her head away and buried it for safety, in Maggie’s breasts. Rebuffed but determined, Jenna tried to pluck her out of Maggie’s arms. Cody cried “No!” and clung to Maggie with a death grip.
     
    Maggie, distraught, clung too. She saw Eric assess the situation.
     
    “It’s only natural for her to be a bit unfamiliar with you, darling,” he interjected in a voice of warm oil. He was very handsome, she noted; a Spanish dancer’s sensuality, the hauteur of a grandee. “She’ll get over it as soon as we’re home.”
     
    “Home?” Maggie blurted. “You can’t possibly mean you intend to take her with you, today? That’s absurd! This is the only home Cody’s ever known!”
     
    “She’s my child, Mother, not yours,” Jenna cut in. “I left her with you while I was ill, not forever. I’m back now and I want my daughter.”
     
    Maggie straightened, still holding the clinging three-year-old child tight against her pounding heart. “You may want to do that, Jenna, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. This is entirely too sudden for me to cope with, how can you expect a little child to adjust? You’ll have to give us some time to take this all in.” She took a deep breath, fighting for calm.
     
    “You say you have a house in Greenwich? And you’re married? Are there any other surprises you’re saving for me? Like that you’re the president of General Motors, or you’re planning to take over a Third World country later on today? . . .” Maggie’s Irish temper was slow to engage but once it did . . .
     
    Eric moved to defuse the escalating anger. “Mrs. O’Connor, I assure you,